Microsoft – Amateur Hour At Office 2007
The “Blog for Notebooks” affair was one thing. The way Microsoft is handling the current roll-out of the Microsoft Office Beta and Microsoft Office trial is nothing short of a joke.
I downloaded the beta edition. And I understand what beta code is and means. It worked great. Unlike many reviewers I really like what they have done with Office 2007. It’s a vast improvement.
Then I hit problem number one – As soon as Microsoft updates your system using it’s fancy “Live” software, it kills the beta. You need to go through the extruciating process of re-downloading the software. It’s a bit like being mid-way through the premiere of a good movie and someone hitting restart. Ok, I’ll put up with that.
Eventually the beta was killed all together by the trial edition. For some reason this won’t install correctly on my system. I’m stuck in a perpetual registration loop. So, the software won’t work.
No problems, I don’t mind paying for a bit of help with installing the software – I’m one of those bloggers that planned to review it without getting a notebook. But no luck there. Tech support forwards me to the product registration team who forwards me to tech support and around and around we go until some chap decides to come clean and tell me that nobody can actually help me bacuse there is no support for this product. So, having unleashed it on the unwitting public they aren’t supporting it. Classic.
No problems, I’ll just download the file conversion software. Ummm, not really. You see, it mostly works but doesn’t work with all Excel files. Microsoft in effect leaves the beta tester and trial user stranded.
I was expecting all the normal hassles from beta software. Trial software is a different gig – that’s like test driving a car. So, now I’ve gone from a fan to one pissed-off and frustruated reviewer/user – not because of the product, but because of the company. I wonder if anyone up there actually walks in the customers shoes.
Here’s a little tip. Rather than squandering your shareholders ample resources on free notebooks, how about actually communicating with your beta and trail users? Why not listen to them – and how they are experiencing the product.
And hey, rather than pimping your software by packing it in fancy notebooks and handing it out how about actually using the community’s experience, however lousy it might be, to improve the product before you ship it to millions of unwitting customers.
Blinks & Links
- Edelman launches a writing blog.
- Michael Arrington’s list of Web 2.0 companies in 2007 he can’t live without.
- This Cringely article captures the Web 2.0 startup phenomena from the point of view of the VC’s.
- Stowe’s Ten Thoughts for 2007
- Fred forecasts continued expansion in social networking in 2007. Stowe agrees with his prognosis for large established sites going social:
Established communities will go social
Ebay. Amazon. Wikipedia. Motley Fool. New York Times. What do these sites all have in common? They are large content sites with enormous communities. As the web goes social, individuals in these communities want to meet, learn about, learn from or even date fellow members of these communities. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense for established communities to introduce social and profile aspects to their communities. First, it is a move that will get tech pundits talking, and the cluetrain folks applauding, as it embraces social and conversational aspects of community. Second, it will increase engagement between customers, therefore increasing the amount of time people will spend on the site. It also increases the amount of social capital individuals invest into their relationship with the content site, ultimately making individuals ambassadors of the brands into which they invest time.
Wrong Move By Microsoft
Giving free Acer notebooks to bloggers is a classic misstep by Microsoft – not only does it reak of impropriety, it also shows a clear lack of savvy in dealing with the blogosphere.
Equally, accepting free notebooks from Microsoft is the wrong move for bloggers to take. Keep them and you have zero credibility without disclosing clear as day that the machine you are evaluating it on is worth a tidy $2,200 and Microsoft gave it to you free. Even then, I doubt you’ll have much credibility.
Send them back and request a site from which you can download Vista and test it out on your current system. Lets see if Microsoft has enough confidence in it’s own products to do just that.
The argument that this is just a product reviews program is garbage. Bloggers aren’t professional reviewers – our strength and value is that we aren’t. And if it was, the systems would have been delivered with the expectation that they would be returned.
No ethical journalist would ever take a free notebook from Microsoft. Neither should any ethical blogger.
